Boy who lost hands to infection gets double-hand transplant

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PHILADELPHIA — Surgeons in Philadelphia have performed a double-hand transplant on a boy believed to be the youngest patient to undergo the procedure.

Eight-year-old Zion Harvey’s forearms are still heavily bandaged. But his new hands were visible as he joined doctors at a news conference Tuesday.

The transplant was conducted earlier this month at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Zion thanked his family and doctors for helping him on a “bumpy road.” He’s from the suburban Baltimore community of Owings Mills, Maryland.

His hands and feet were amputated years ago because of an infection. But leg prosthetics let him become an active child, and he learned to eat, write and play video games even before the double-hand transplant.